Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s failure to accept responsibility for two streetlights on the private road where he lives. The Ombudsman should not exercise his discretion to investigate this complaint. This is because the complaint concerns matters which the complainant was aware of more than 12 months before submitting the complaint to us.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, complains about the Council refusing to maintain two streetlights on the road where he lives. He says they repaired the lights on previous occasions and he wants them to be added to the current maintenance contract.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
3. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered all the information which Mr X submitted with his complaint. I have also considered the Council’s response and Mr X has commented on the draft decision.

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What I found

5. Mr X lives on a private road which is not adopted by the Council for maintenance. The road has two streetlights which he says have been repaired by the Council on past occasions. In 2010 the Council entered into a private finance initiative agreement with a contractor to replace and maintain its street lighting. Mr X’s road was not included in the scheme because it was a private road.
6. Mr X asked the Council to repair the lights and include them in the scheme in 2016. The Council told him that the lights were not its responsibility and that whilst it may have repaired them on one occasion, they were not part of its system and could not be added to the private contract. Mr X wrote again in 2017 and the Council re-iterated its view.
7. The Council as highway authority is responsible for maintaining infrastructure on public highways. Mr X has been aware of the refusal to accept responsibility for the lights on his private road for several years. The Ombudsman does not normally investigate complaints received outside the normal twelve-month period. There is insufficient evidence of fault in this case which would warrant the Ombudsman to exercise his discretion to investigate now.

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Final decision

8. The Ombudsman should not exercise his discretion to investigate this complaint. This is because the complaint concerns matters which the complainant was aware of more than 12 months before submitting the complaint to us.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman